Glass container inspecting apparatus

ABSTRACT

THIS IS A DEVICE INCORPORATED IN APPARATUS FOR DETECTING DEFECTS IN GLASS CONTAINERS, SUCH DEVICE SERVING TO STABILIZE AN UPRIGHT CONTAINER, A BOTTLE FOR EXAMPLE, WHILE RESISTING UPON A ROTATING SPINNER PAID AT A SELECTED INSPECTING STATION TO WHICH SUCH CONTAINERS ARE BOUGHT IN SUCCESSION BY SAID PADS AND AN ASSOCIATED INTERMITTENTLY ROTATING STARWHEEL. THE STEADYING DEVICE EMBODIES A SPRING-LOADED HOLDDOWN ROLLER WHICH ENGAGES THE TOP END OF THE CONTAINER NECK AS A DIRECT RESULT OF UPWARD MOVEMENT OF BOTH THE PAID AND CONTAINER THEREON, SO THAT THE LATTER IS GRASPED FIRMLY BETWEEN THE PAD AND ROLLER. A SECOND TOLLER YIELDING ENGAGES A SIDE SURFACE AREA OF THE CONTAINER IN RESPONSE TO SLIGHT UPWARD MOVEMENT WITH THE PAD, DUE TO THE CONTAINER&#39;&#39;S INITIAL UPWARD MOVEMENT WITH THE PAD, THE SECOND ROLLER ACTING TO YIELDING HOLD THE CONTAINER IN CONTACT WITH ANTIFRICTION MEANS IN THE POCKETS OF THE STARWHEEL.

United States Patent 7 i 3,587,815

[72] lnventor Thomas B. Sorbie Primary Examiner-Even C. Blunk Toledo, Ohio Assistant Examiner-Bruce Hi Stoner Jr. [21) Apple No. 776,645 .4tr0rneysD. T. lnnis and E. Jr Holler [22] Filed Nov. 18. 1968 [45] Patented June-28, 1971 [73] Assign owens'mmoishc' ABSTRACT: This is a device incorporated in apparatus for detecting defects in glass containers, such device serving to stabilize an upright container, a bottle for example, I'C.SI- 3 ClaimsA Drawing 518$ mg upon a rotatmg sp nner pad at a selected inspecting station to which such containers are brought in succession by said [52] U.S. Cl 198/19, Pads and an associated intermittently rotating StarwheeL The 198/33. 198/22, 25 steadying device embodies a spring-loaded'holddown roller [Sl] InLCl .t 865g 47/24 which engages the top end f the container neck as a direct [50] Field of Search t. 198/33, 33 result f upwardemovemem f both the pad and container (Rzli 193 56/571 t 572? 250/223 (B) thereon. so that the latter is grasped firmly between the pad and roller. A second roller yieldingly engages a side surface [56] References cued area of the container in response to slight upward travel of the UNITED STATES PATENTS first roller due to the containers initial upward movement 2,880,845 4/1959 Carter... 198/332 with the pad, the second roller acting to yieldingly hold the 3,327,849 6/1967 Sorbie .4 209/] l 1.5 container in contact with antifriction means in the pockets of 3,356,203 12/1967 Noble et al. 198/332 the starwheel.

l 20} r -Q w lllll mu //l PATE NTED JUN28 19?; 3,5818 1 5 SHEET 1 [IF 3 INVENTOR. K HOFTVAQESORQC BY ATPOKMQUS PATENTED JUN28 Ian SHEET 2 [IF 3 FIG. 2

INVIJNTOR. I HOW/AS 8.8OE'BAE BY PATENTED JUN28 1973 saw 3 or 3 INVENTOR. THOIWAE OEBI FIG. 4

GLASS CONTAINER INSPECTING APPARATUS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The invention pertains to apparatus for inspecting glass bottles or other such articles, to detect structural defects, or flaws, therein, such apparatus comprising a peripherally pocketed starwheel and spinnerpads individual to the pockets, for supporting bottles upright in said pockets, together with means for intermittently rotating the starwheel, thereby to bring the bottles one at a time to inspecting stations, at each of which stations the bottles are rotated in the presence of flawdetecting means, and if found to be defective, are rejected.

Heretofore, to the best of my knowledge, the bottles being inspected have rested freely upon spinnerpads, there being no means for ensuring against undesired lateral displacement, so that if such bottles and spinnerpads are not initially coaxial, the former may be not only improperly positioned for inspection purposes, but in fact may be bodily thrown from the pads by centrifugal force.

Accordingly, my invention provides that each bottle supporting pad, while at a given inspecting station, rotates the bottle and elevatesit so that the neck end is firmly pressed against and lifts a spring-loaded "holddown" roller, the latter carried by a vertically rockable arm which in turn carries a push-in roller which is so positioned that it can be brought into contact with a side-surface area of the bottle in response to upward movement of said arm, thus firmly holding the bottle against antifriction devices in the starwheel pockets.

An important object of my invention is the provision of simple effective means for positively stabilizing a bottle, or such article, during inspection for defects, where such inspection requires upright positioning of the bottle on a pad and rotating same on a vertical axis in the presence of flaw-detecting means.

Another object of my invention is the provision of apparatus of the above character in which a spinnerpad and bottle supported upright thereon are moved vertically upward, initially to firmly grasp the bottle between said pad and a roller, and if desired, through said roller and a carrier for same, causing a second roller to engage a side surface area of the bottle and yieldingly hold it against antifriction means individual to pockets of an associated starwheel.

Other objects will be in part apparent and in part pointed out hereinafter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG, 1 is a side elevational view, partly in section, showing my invention functioning to steady, or stabilize, an upright rotating glass container at an inspecting station;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary detail perspective view of my invention;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged side elevational view with parts in section, of the major portion of the steadying mechanism; and

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the components of my invention.

The illustrated embodiment of my invention is positioned at an inspecting station to which a bottle 10, or such article, while standing upright upon a spinnerpad 11, is brought by means of a padcarrier 12, or table, there being associated with and located in a plane just above the latter, a pair of superposed starwheels 13 functioning in the manner shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,3 l 3,409 dated Apr. I1, 1967. At the inspecting station the spinnerpad I1 is rotated on its vertical axis by any conventional means, for example, as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,313,409, so that light beams from sources 14, may be directed at an acute angle against the bottom or adjacent surfaces of the rotating container 10. If a detect is present, a signal is produced and reject mechanism actuated, as in my U.S. Pat. No. 3,327,849 issued June 27, 1967. In addition to being rotated while at the inspecting station, this spinnerpad 11 also is moved axially upward by any suitable means (not shown) in order to actuate the steadying mechanism comprising my invention, as will become apparent presently. It is, of

course, understood that there is an annular series of these spinner pads 11 so that bottles advance in succession intermittently to the inspecting station, such being held at said station momentarily for inspection purposes and steadied during rotation, by the present invention.

This steadying device S comprises a holddown roller 15 and a push-in roller 16, the former, as will become apparent, functioning to apply yielding pressure axially downward upon the neck end of the container so that the latter is firmly held between the roller and pad. The push-in roller 16 moves into contact with the medial side area of the bottle body concurrently with and in response to firm gripping of the bottle between the holddown roller 15 and pad 11. The push-in roller 16 cooperates with vertically spaced-apart pairs of starwheel-carried antifriction rollers 17 individual to the pads 11. In some instances I may dispense with the push-in rollers 16 and rely solely upon the holddown roller 15 and pad 11 to steady the container as it rotates at the inspecting station. However, where all rollers are utilized, the supporting and actuating mechanism may well be as follows.

Framework 19 positioned adjacent the inspection station radially outward from the starwheels l3 and said padcarrier 12, supports the steadying device S which includes a rectangular baseplate 20 (FIGS. 3 and 4), secured to the upper side of the framework 19. There is a transverse upwardly facing chan nel 21 medially of the upper side of this baseplate 20. At each side of this channel 21, medially its length, is a vertical longitudinal slot 22 extending in part laterally into the floor of said channel 21. In each such slot 22 is an elongated, substantially T-shaped bearing block 23, these two being secured to the baseplate 20 by screws 24 threaded into apertures 25 in said baseplate. A horizontal hinge pin 26 has its ends rockably journaled in aligned openings 27 in the pair of bearing blocks 23 and near each end of the notch 28 in one side of this pin 26, is tightly secured by any suitable means to one of a pair of opposed pendent fingers 29 through which the prime roller-carrying arm 30 is rockably attached to the baseplate 20. This arm 30 is relatively long, disposed substantially horizontally, and has a central vertical longitudinal slot 31, or slideway, therein, one end wall 32 of such slot (FIG. 4) terminating near the pendent fingers 29. Beyond this wall 32 and the hinge pin 26 is an arm extension 33 having a slot 34 therein to accommodate an upright screwthreaded pin 35 rising from the baseplate 20. A coil-expansion spring 36 encircles this pin 35 between the base plate 20 and said arm extension 33, such spring being held in compression by nuts 37 threaded upon the 1 pin 35 just above the extension 33. Thus the free outer end 38 of the arm 30 normally is yieldingly held in its low position.

The previously mentioned holddown roller 15 is journaled on a short rod 39 which is secured at one end to a bracket 40 depending from the free end 38 of the carrier arm 30. Preferably, the axis of rotation of the roller 15 normally is inclined at about 15 to the horizontal. The push-in roller 16 is rotatably mounted at the lower end of an elongated generally vertical rod 41 which extends through and is supported by a carrier block 42 which is fitted for longitudinal movement in said elongated slot 31 in the carrier arm 30. Fingers 43 on this block 42 form a clamp for grasping the rod 41 and a screw 44 interconnecting the fingers 43 of this clamp is operable to lock the rod at any desired elevation in said block 42. Opposed flanges 45 at the base of this carrier block 42 slidingly engage the lower surface of the carrier arm 30 near each side of the slot 31. A slide block 46 (FIG. 4) is mounted in the slot 31 or slideway of the carrier arm 30, such being pivoted by a horizontal hinge pin 47 to the aforementioned carrier block 42 which is connected directly to the rod 41. This slide block 46 includes a separate headplate 48 through which an upright threaded rod 49, carried by the block proper extends freely, A locknut 50 on this rod serves to secure the slide block 46 at any desired point along the slot 31, the point of setting being determined by the diameter of the container body. A coil pull spring 51 interconnecting the upper end portion of the rod 41 and the rod 49 just mentioned, functions to yieldingly hold the push-in roller 16 firmly against a container body at times.

Thus, it will be understood that coincident with arrival of a spinner pad supported bottle at the inspection station and with the container already contacting the antifriction rollers 17 of the starwheels 13, the pad is rotated on its axis and elevated to bring the neck end of the container into firm engagement with the holddown roller 15. Continued upward travel of the pad and container as a unit for a short distance moves the roller upwardly for the two-fold purpose of firmly grasping the container between the pad and roller 15 and through the latter moving the arm 30 on the axis of the pivot pin 26, causing the rod 41 to move the push-in roller 16 carried thereby, into contact with one side of the container body. Thus the container body is firmly, through rotatably, held between the push-in roller 16 and the antifriction rollers 17 of the starwheels 13. The springs 36 and 51, as is apparent, provide for yielding engagement between these rollers 17 and 51 and the container 10. Variations in the diameter of containers being inspected, requires proper setting of the rod carried block 42 in the arm slot 31, such involving loosening the locknut 50, shifting the block and supporting rod to the desired position and then tightening the locknut to secure the block and rod in place.

Modifications may be resorted to within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

lclaim:

1. In combination a bottle inspection apparatus wherein bottles are moved in succession into and out of inspection station by a rotatably indexed starwheel arrangement having a plurality of bottle-engaging pockets formed therein and a bottle, bottom-engaging spinner pad at at least one said inspection station for lifting the bottle and rotating the bottle about its vertical axis; and a bottle-steadying means at the inspection station, the improvement in said steadying means comprising a horizontally extending arm, means mounting said arm for pivotal movement in a vertical plane, a holddown roller on the extending end of said arm overlying a bottle in the inspection station, said roller being engaged by a bottle upon raising of the bottle by the spinner pad, means biasing said arm in the bottle-engaging direction, a push-in roller mounted at the lower end of a vertical rod and movable into engagement with the side of the bottle opposite to the starwheel pocket, means mounting said rod on said horizontal arm for limited pivotal movement of the push-in roller toward and away from the bottie, and means connected between said arm and rod for bias ing said push-in roller toward the bottle in response to upward movement of the holddown roller by engagement by a raised bottle.

2. In combination, an annular series of vertically upwardly movable rotatable spinnerpads for supporting glass bottles in upright position and operable to bring them in succession to an inspecting station, there being a peripherally pocketed starwheel to aid the pads in advancing the bottles intermittently, antifriction means in each starwheel pocket for contact with pad supported bottles, and a bottle-steadying device at said station comprising a vertically rockable, generally horizontal arm, a holddown roller at the free end of said arm for rolling contact with the upper end of a bottle resting upon a pad, said roller and bottle being interengaged and the roller moved upwardly in response to upward movement of the pad and bottle, a push-in roller below and supported by said arm and movable into contact with the side of a bottle in an area generally opposite said antifriction means in response to upward movement of said arm and the roller carried thereby, a slide block mounted for movement longitudinally of the arm, means for locking the slide block at any desired point along said arm, a carrier block pivoted to the slide block, a rod connected near one end to and depending from the carrier block and supporting the push-in roller at its lower end, said rod extending above the carrier block and a coil pull spring interconnecting the rod above said carrier block and a portion of the slide block locking means, for yieldingly urging the push-in roller into engagement with the bottle.

3. in combination, an annular series of vertically upwardly movable rotatable s innerpads for supporting glass bottles in upright position an operable to bring them in succession to an inspecting station, there being a peripherally pocketed starwheel to aid the pads in advancing the bottles intermittently, antifriction means in each starwheel pocket for contact with pad supported bottles, and a bottle-steadying device at said station comprising a vertically rockable, generally horizontal arm, a holddown roller at the free end of said arm for rolling contact with the upper end of a bottle resting upon a pad, said roller and bottle being interengaged and the roller moved upwardly in response to upward movement of the pad and bottle, a push-in roller below and supported by said arm and movable into contact with the side of a bottle in an area generally opposite said antifriction means in response to upward movement of said arm and the roller carried thereby, a slide block mounted for movement longitudinally of the arm, means for locking the slide block at any desired point along said arm, a carrier block pivoted to the slide block, a rod connected near one end to and depending from the carrier block and supporting the push-in roller at its lower end, means pivotally supporting the arm for movement in a vertical plane, spring means urging the arm about its pivot to yieldingly intcrengage the holddown roller and bottle, and spring means acting upon said rod to yieldingly interengage the push-in roller and bottle. 

